Mermaid Blankets At Heart Of Multi-Million Dollar Battle

In less than a year, Hattie Peze turned a design for a blanket designed to wrap around the legs and end in a mermaid tail into a multi-million dollar business. That was when the copycats got a hold of the idea. One group – Ontel Products Corp. –  was shut down with a cease-and-desist order from Peze. But Allstar Marketing Group LLC, the “as seen on TV” operation behind the Snuggie, began selling ‘Snuggie Tails.’ Peze’s company Blankie Tails filed to block Allstar’s attempted trademark of Snuggie Tails, and filed suit in federal court claiming trademark infringement and unfair competition. The two companies seem to have come to an out-of-court settlement, and now Allstar has turned on Amazon, suing the online marketplace for allowing the sale of “an astronomical number of counterfeit and infringing products.”